Financial Aid: Scholarships

Scholarships are forms of aid that help students pay for their education. Unlike student loans, scholarships do not have to be repaid. Hundreds of thousands of scholarships from several thousand sponsors are awarded each year.

Generally, scholarships are reserved for students with special qualifications, such as academic, athletic or artistic talent. Awards are also available for students who are interested in particular fields of study, who are members of underrepresented groups, who live in certain areas of the country or who demonstrate financial need.

Institutional Scholarships

UP has several institutional scholarships that are awarded to students based on certain academic criteria. Students are notified of these scholarships by the Office of Admissions. These scholarships are available for four years of academic study and will be distributed evenly over eight semesters (fall and spring, excluding summer). To renew institutional scholarships students must maintain satisfactory academic progress (full-time enrollment each term and a 2.0 GPA) throughout their enrollment.

Private Scholarships

Private scholarships come from a wide variety of sources. High schools, local clubs, national organizations, foundations, and many others have private scholarships that students should always be on the look out for. Check out the University of Portland's Outside Scholarship Database for ideas on where to look for scholarships.

Scholarship search services also provide students with a quick and efficient way to search for scholarships using a database of scholarship awards that match a student’s personal profile with specific scholarship awards in the database. Students may use the computerized scholarship search service to determine which scholarship awards they may be eligible for and using the information generated from the search, apply directly for those specific scholarships. Please note that most scholarship search services are free. Therefore, we discourage students from paying for these services.

Oregon Scholarships

The Oregon Student Access Commission (OSAC) administers over 400 privately-funded scholarships specifically for Oregon students attending Oregon schools. Check out the Office of Student Access and Completion for more information and to apply.